Fire Starter
by Flood4
Summary: The crew find a new village in the middle of a vast forest. Inside holds many secrets and dangers. AangxKatara and OCxOC
1. Rude Awakenings

A cold wind blew in the starry night sky. A full moon lit the sky, making it easy to see in the darkness.

As Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph rode the back of Appa and Momo flew near, they looked down at the woods below them. Aang drew several deep breaths. They had just made it out.

Several minutes before, they had been in their campsite, asleep. At about three in the morning, Aang shivered and woke up because of the cold. He looked the group's makeshift fire pit, made from Toph arranging the rocks in a perfect circle, Sokka using some of his fire starters, and Aang blowing them to create an instant fire. It was only a pile of orange embers and black ash now.

Suddenly, the fire shot up. Embers flew in all directions. Aang yelled to wake everyone up. As the gang slowly got up and to their feet, the heard several rustling noises from the woods around them.

Out of the green forest surrounding them came several arrows. Many whizzed by Aang's face.

The shaft of one of the arrows came too close and sliced a cut in Aang's face. Blood started to drip down.

Then out of the shrubs came a Fire Nation soldier in full attire. He had long hair and eyes that glowed a bit yellow in the darkness of the night.

He raised his hand back in an attacking position. He then thrust it forward, shooting flame in the Avatar's direction.

He jumped the incoming flames and countered with a strong gush of wind from his hands.

This new fire bender ducked low, dodging the blast. He then ran at a breakneck speed in Aang's direction.

As he decreased the distance between the two of them, Aang let out another powerful blast.

In response to the Avatar's move, he jumped above him. From his aerial position, he fired a concentrated blast of fire to the target below him. If this attack hit, Aang would be scorched.

Katara saw this from a ways away and quickly let loose a water strike to counteract the fire. The fire was doused quickly, and all that hit the Avatar was some harmless steam.

Katara quickly drew the water back into her flask and prepared to attack again.

The fire bender looked at Katara skeptically.

"Yes, of course. The girl who teaches the Avatar water tricks. I hear you have some skill. Well, I have some skill as well."

Katara glared at the fire bender. His glowing eyes stared at her for a few seconds.

She then saw something a little out of the ordinary. He quickly glanced at Aang, then looked back at her and rushed her way.

Though she wondered a bit why he hesitated to look at Aang, she had more pressing matters to attend to. He was coming, and she could see the fire building up in his hands.

As this was happening, Sokka and Toph were fighting the other Fire soldiers. One came at Toph with a broad sword, but was easily swept aside by a boulder launched from the "Blind Bandit".

Another notched his arrow and took aim at her. He let go of the string and let the arrow fly. Before it reached its intended target, however, it was stopped by a wall of stone created from Toph stomping her feet.

Sokka was having a bit more trouble stopping the soldiers that were attacking him. One in particular was a soldier with a long, sharp sword that made almost no sound as it swung away.

The soldier took a swing in the direction of Sokka's head. Sokka used his boomerang to stop it before it hit his face. He jumped back and threw it, hoping that a ranged attack from afar would be a better tactic.

As the boomerang came close to the soldier, he turned sideways. The boomerang kept going. As it flew, it hit a tree and sliced a notch in it. It was stuck there, like a throwing axe stuck in a wall.

"Having a spot of trouble I see. Perhaps you should have trained harder before joining the Avatar."

Sokka glared at him as he drew his knife. He rushed at his foe. The soldier swung, but Sokka dodged it. He drew up his knife to attack.

Before he got in his slice however, the soldier lost his footing and fell on his back. He dropped his sword. It clanged to the ground.

"Hmm, perhaps you should have brought another weapon?" sniggered Sokka as he prepared his attack.

"You spoke too soon."

The soldier drew his own knife, and the two began their fight again.

At this point, the fire bender with the glowing eyes was rushing towards Katara while dodging her water attacks. When he came within range of Katara, he leaped in her direction. However, she jumped in a sideways direction and shot a water whip at him while in midair.

The bender was caught off guard for a second, but then hit the ground and, in a split second, moved his leg into a kicking position.

He moved his leg in a sweeping motion, sending flame in the direction of the water whip. The flame hit the water and temporarily both were stopped. In this second, the man with glowing eyes jumped in Aang's direction with a fireball in his hand.

Aang quickly grabbed his air bending pole. He drew it back in a baseball player's stance.

For about a second, time seemed to slow. Aang saw the bender jumping forward at him, about five feet away. He swung his pole.

The fire bender's eyes open and his pupil's dilated, making the whites of his eyes glow even brighter. He saw what was coming, and unless he could move out of the way without using his body itself and within less than a second, he was about to be in a world of pain.

Unfortunately for the fire bender, he couldn't move in that time. His full body was hit with the pole and sent him flying. He landed far back in the forest, hitting trees and shrubs as he went.

"Guys! We need to escape! There's too many of them, and they're powerful!" yelled Aang. The others looked to him and those that could nodded. Sokka yelled his agreement, kicked the fire soldier out of the way, retrieved his boomerang, and jumped onto Appa.

Toph, at the same time, fired rocks in all directions the enemies were coming from and also jumped to Appa.

Aang ran to Katara, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the air.

"Appa! Fly, now!" he yelled. Appa jumped from the ground with great force. He flew through the air with speed. As he came closer to Aang and Katara in the air, Aang steered them both to Appa's back.

They flew away, looking down at the defeated soldiers below them. The glint of the shining eyes was visible from several feet away.

And that is how they got in this position. Flying above the forest. Not sure exactly where they were going, but heading for the nearest town, slightly visible from their position.

Aang looked ahead at the lights from the town. They slowly faded into each other and he drifted to sleep.


	2. Sleepless

About a day's journey from the Avatar's current position, a sleepy Zuko walked a dirt road a few feet from his uncle.

"Zuko, you need rest. You have not slept in three days. If you are to destroy Azula, you will need all of your energy. I know you want to defeat her, but you cannot fight in this condition."

"I know, Uncle. I will rest at the next town. Even if I need sleep, we have to keep walking. We may be ambushed in the night if we sleep here."

"Nephew, you just rest. I will keep watch for attackers in the night."

Zuko shook his head no. He continued to walk.

"The map says the nearest village is that way." He pointed in front of him and to the left slightly.

"Map? What map? I have no map, and we haven't come across a village or any other human in days. Where did you get one?"

Zuko recalled what had happened a few days ago. While his Uncle was sleeping, he had taken his Blue Spirit mask and come across an unlucky traveler. The man was at the time looking at his map and carrying a pole with fresh meat on the end.

Zuko pulled his swords to the man and demanded the map and meat. The man gave him both out of fear. Later that night, when Zuko had returned to his uncle, he had told him that the meat was a deer that he had hunted and cooked.

"It is a map I found while hunting days ago. Did I not mention it before?"

"No, Prince Zuko. You never mentioned a map. But I trust you, and I know you will lead us where we need to go to."

Zuko paused for a second. Uncle's words had slightly touched him. He then checked the map to make sure for the twentieth time that they had taken the correct road.

"Zuko, you need to sleep. Without your sleep, you will become sick. If you become sick, then you will lose more days than you gain by continuing without sleep."

"I will not get sick Uncle. Please, let us just reach the town first, and then we can rest."

Uncle Iroh sighed. Zuko could be so stubborn. Well, there was no sense in arguing with him at this point.

"Fine, young nephew. But if we should be attacked, you must let me fight for you. You must conserve your energy."

So they continued to walk. They were now walking uphill. This slowed Zuko down a bit. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance.

At the top of the large hill, Zuko took a look in the direction of the town. He saw a small smudge of lights, signifying where the town was. Roughly a day and a half away if they took the road… But if they cut through the forest…

"Uncle, I can see the town from here. If we go straight through the forest, we can reach it by tomorrow afternoon. I say we do it."

"No, Prince Zuko. It is far too dangerous. We must keep to the road. There are many creatures in forests such as these that will kill you without hesitation, the second they see you."

"Perhaps you are right. We will keep to the road. Let us continue."

So the two continued along the twists and turns of the road.

Now Aang and the rest were very close to this new town. Sokka was the only one on the bison awake. He looked to the lights ahead of him. It looked to be a nicely sized city. In about thirty minutes, they would land there and get into some real shelter. Hopefully the people here would take nicely to having the Avatar in their town.

He looked to the others. Aang was lying on his back near the end of the huge saddle. Katara was sleeping with her back to the edges of the saddle and her legs lain out near Aang. Toph was snoring with her feet lying off the edges of the saddle. Sokka was left holding the reins.

Momo flew to his shoulder. He sat there for a few minutes, and then drifted to sleep and fell down onto Appa's back next to Toph. He cuddled next to her and absorbed her body warmth.

Sokka knew he needed to steer Appa, but he felt very drowsy. He began blinking, not because of his own will, but because his eyes wanted to shut. They grew heavier and heavier.

Eventually, they came to a full close, and Sokka fell into a deep slumber. Appa was left to steer himself. Once close enough to the town that he could see clearly the buildings and homes, he landed in a small clearing just barely big enough to fit his enormous mass.

He too then drifted to sleep. His last thought before losing consciousness was that at least they were near a village full of people who could help if anyone should attack.

By this time, Iroh had fallen asleep. Zuko sighed and began to carry him on his back as he had done before. He was heavy, it was true, but he would do it.

The problem was that drowsiness was getting the best of him. Every few minutes, all the colors he saw would fade together and he would have to wait for a few seconds to see correctly again.

As he carried his uncle, he pondered about what he had said earlier. True, Uncle Iroh had told him not to, but going through the forest would save valuable time and he could get his rest in less time.

But what would he do if he did get attacked? He was weaker at the moment anyway, but seeing as the sun was down, he wouldn't be able to draw any extra fire power.

But then, if the danger was so great, why not cut through the forest and get to safety faster? The risk was more, but the rewards were greater.

He then realized how he had been talking to himself. This constant lack of sleep was seriously starting to get to him. He shook it off and continued walking down the road.

As he walked, he noticed a small dirt path going through the forest. He looked at the map and saw the same path outlined in brown. It led to the village and would take off some time. He smirked. The best of both worlds. He began to walk down the path.


	3. Into the City

Hello people who have had the patience to read this far. If you are reading this, I thank you for passing the third grade and learning to read. It's people like you that make the world a better place.

At first, there was only black. No feeling. No presence. No noise. Everything was calm, black, and silence. Everything was at peace, as it should be.

Then he felt something shaking his shoulders. Color slowly filtered from the black. The color then morphed and came into focus.

What he saw was Katara, shaking him awake. Aang yawned and smiled.

"Good morning, Katara."

"Good morning, sleepy head. You're the last one up. Last night must've been pretty tiresome."

"Yeah. That guy with the freaky eyes was tough… Anyway, what's for breakfast?"

Katara sighed and pointed to Sokka, who was sitting by a pile of wood and leaves trying to make a fire. He had staked up a string tied between to poles and apparently was trying to cook some beef jerky.

"As you can see, we're going to be eating in town this morning."

Sokka overheard and passed Katara a glare.

"Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks. You guys should just thank me for getting Appa so close to the village."

Aang yawned again.

"What time is it?"

"Judging by the position of the sun, I'd say about eight in the morning. We need to get into town and find a market for some real food, not that knockoff jerky brand."

Sokka just turned back to his work. He was rubbing one stick between his hands quickly, creating a high amount of friction. In a few minutes, the leaves and twigs ignited.

"Yes! Who's the man now, Katara?"

"I should hope that would be you," she replied. Aang laughed.

Later, after Sokka had eaten his jerky, the four plus Momo went into the city. They didn't see any markets, but after walking for a few minutes, a merchant called out to them and caught Aang's attention.

"Learn fire bending, water bending, air bending, earth bending, instantly!"

Aang turned around when he heard this and rushed to the stall of the merchant who had called out.

"What do you mean 'Learn fire bending instantly'?"

The merchant grinned from ear to ear. Another sucker to get money from.

Ah! Young one! I see you are interested in bending, no?"

Aang nodded yes. The man's grin grew a bit wider.

"Then take a look at my wares. Special gloves that allow you any bending skill you wish!"

He then pointed to the gloves on his shelf. There four stacks of gloves: One with the Water emblem, one with the Fire, one with the Earth, and one with the Air emblem.

"How would you like a demonstration, my new little friend?"

Aang nodded again.

"Good! Take a pair of gloves off one of the stacks. If you can already bend one element, get a pair of gloves of a different element.

Hearing this, Aang grabbed a pair of gloves with the Fire Nation insignia.

"Good! Now, pull one hand back. Good. Now thrust it forward as fast as you can."

Aang did so, and a small flame erupted from his hand.

"There you have it! Each pair of gloves gives you a small amount of power for that element. Sure, you can only do small blasts that are only useful for short range attacks, but still, better safe that sorry, correct?"

Aang was amazed. Now he could shoot flame. Sure, not enough to be considered a serious attack, but at least it was a controlled blast that couldn't hurt anyone unless he meant it to, unlike the last time he had used fire.

"I'll buy a pair. How much?"

"That'll be five gold pieces, please."

Aang looked to Katara.

"Do we have enough, Katara?"

Katara looked through her money pouch.

"Yes, but we won't have much money for food."

Aang looked back at the merchant with a frown. He handed the gloves back.

"Maybe some other time."

As he took off the gloves, he noticed the arrows on his hands. He let out a gasp.

"Son, could you please take off you hat for a second?"

Aang did so, revealing his bald head and arrow.

"You're the Avatar! In that case, take the gloves! No charge!"

"Thank you."

"No problem. I personally always liked the Avatar. Avatar Roku saved my great grandfather from death long ago. Let me give you a tip, though: Not many people in this village like the Avatar. I suggest you don't bring it up in conversation, you catch my drift?"

Aang nodded.

"Where is the nearest market?" asked Toph.

The man pointed north, and waited for a reaction. Hearing none, he got angry.

"Thank you."

The group continued along the road, Aang putting on his hat so no one would recognize him.

"How did you know which way he was pointing, Toph?"

Toph grinned at Katara's naivety.

"When he pointed, his hand brushed against the stall. I could tell by the sound what way he was pointing."

Katara looked at her in amazement. They continued to walk for a few minutes, finally reaching the market.

Somewhere in the forest, the man with the glowing eyes and his team were breaking camp in hopes of pursuing the Avatar further.

"Snake, come over here," yelled one of the men who was packing his things.

The man with glowing eyes walked over to the man. The man was holding an arrow.

"An arrow? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with it! On the contrary, this arrow is very valuable!"

Snake looked over the arrow skeptically. He saw nothing out of the ordinary here.

"There is nothing separating this arrow from all the arrows you have."

"But, sir, it is! This is the arrow that sliced the Avatar's face! Do you know how much we can sell this for back at the Fire Nation?"

Snake's eyes widened. He thought of how much he could get for that arrow, or, better yet, he could give it to Fire Lord Ozai to up his ranking.

"Very good, soldier. We bring that back to the Fire Lord, and we are instantly his favorite squad."

The other soldier grinned. After a few minutes, they finished setting up camp, and headed on through the forest in the general direction of the city.

Unbeknownst to them, Zuko and Iroh were also headed in that direction, and were only a few miles away at the time. Zuko had run through the forest path all night. As far as Zuko knew, it was all going to be over soon.

Glad that's over with. Email me with ideas, comments or flames.


End file.
